1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a magnetic resonance surface coil unit with at least one magnetic resonance resonator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examinations with a magnetic resonance device (MR device) today can extend over larger regions of the human body. The MR exposures necessary for this are mostly acquired with MR surface coil units. These completely cover the body section to be examined. As the examination region increases, MR surface coil units become ever larger, heavier and unwieldy.
An example of such an MR surface coil is a spinal column coil, the length of which corresponds to the entire length (approximately 1.20 m) of the human spinal column and the width of which is for the most part given by the width of the patient support (approximately 0.50 m), i.e. the width of the human upper body. A weight of approximately 12 kg results based on this size. Handling of this spinal column coil is cumbersome.
An MR imaging system is known from the German Patent 197 51 017, with a galvanically insulated coil element that has at least one free access region for a mechanical engagement in the area to be examined, in particular for an operation or for a biopsy.
Coils for MR mammography (breast coils) comprise examination regions adapted to the anatomy of the breast. Thus, a breast coil is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,166 that has two partially freely accessible coil windings. A further breast coil is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,845 that has two cylinder coils separated from one another. Furthermore, a breast coil with an open structure is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,717 that has a flat base and an upper, biplanar section with two coil arrangements, borne on vertical legs.
Depending on the MR examination to be implemented, a suitable MR surface coil unit is used. It must be brought from a storage location to the MR device and positioned there. A spinal column coil is placed, for example, on a patient bed of the MR device. If another body region is then to be examined (scanned), the spinal column coil must be removed and, for example, a breast coil must be positioned.